​We couldn’t agree more and applaud the council for its strong stance.

Pokie machines in clubs and pubs are predominantly situated in our struggling communities and cause the greatest gambling harm to individuals, families and the community. In wealthy areas, there is one pokie machine for every 465 people and in more deprived areas there is one pokie machine for every 75 people.

Councils have the authority to determine numbers of machines in their region and given the money these machines generate there is an inherent conflict of interest if councils benefit from grants derived from those same machines.

Mayor King described this in the media as ‘Council being the gamekeeper and poacher because it has a role in regulating pokie machines but benefits from grants’.

PGF has called on all councils to follow Hamilton City Council’s lead on this issue.​Good on you Hamilton City Council!

We were very disappointed by the results of the latest ‘mystery shopper’ exercise conducted by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) to assess host responsibility practice in pubs and clubs with pokie machines.

While the results showed an overall improvement across the casino sector, the same can’t be said for pubs and clubs, with only 12 out of 120 non-club venues meeting the standard and none of the 22 clubs.

Of the venues situated in high deprivation and high spending areas, only 59 percent met the host responsibility standards which is very concerning. These are struggling communities where there are high numbers of pokie machines so this money is coming out of the pockets of those who can least afford it.

Purpose of the exerciseThe DIA states on its website that the purpose of the exercise was to provide a snapshot of how well venue staff identified and responded to signs of harmful gambling. It also highlights opportunities where further support can be provided by industry operators and the Department to better protect gamblers and build stronger communities.

Scenarios were developed to assess how frontline staff responded to a variety of gambling harm behaviours. They were developed using a range of information that included input from gambling operators about how they expected their staff to perform. The scenarios varied in duration and exhibited a range of strong and general signs of gambling harm. Each selected establishment was visited by a mystery shopper who acted out a specific scenario.The Department assessed the country’s six casinos and a random selection of 120 of the 1221 class 4 venues.

Gamble Host ResourcesThe DIA based the mystery shopper exercise on best practice guidance and the clear expectations provided in a new set of resources that have been designed to support venue staff and gambling patrons. The ‘Gamble Host Pack’ has been provided to help gaming societies and class 4 venues (pubs and clubs) meet their gambling host responsibility obligations and provide a duty of care for gamblers.

The pack includes posters, tips for venue managers, an action plan template (for venues to note down what they are going to do to minimise harm in the venue), a logbook template (for recording incidences and observations of gambling harm) and discreet wallet-sized leaflets designed for gamblers that might be experiencing harm.

What are the signs of gambling harm staff at venues should look out for?There are many signs of harmful gambling including if someone is gambling for a long length of time (three or more hours) without taking a break, gambling on most days and finding it difficult to stop at closing time.​Sometimes a gambler’s behaviour will change and they might become angry or be rude to other gamblers or staff. Venue staff need to look out for gamblers that play intensely without reacting to what’s going on around them, play very fast (high spend per line) and show frustration (grunting/groaning, playing roughly). Other signs include looking distressed (looking depressed, sweating, nervous/edgy), has gambling rituals or superstitions sometimes rubbing, or talking to the machine.

The Gambling and Addictions Research Centre (GARC) at AUT has two new studies out that focus on harm caused by gambling. One focuses on family violence related to gambling, while the other seeks to quantify harm across a variety of areas of life.

GARC teamed up with AUT's Centre for Interdisciplinary Trauma Research to study problem gambling and family/whanau violence, in Problem gambling and family violence in help-seeking populations: co-occurrence, impact and coping. Half of the people who took part in the study reported being victims of abuse (either physical, psychological, emotional, verbal, or sexual) in the previous 12 months--and nearly half reported they had committed the abuse themselves. The largest category was verbal abuse, such as screaming or insulting, and the second-largest was physical harm or threats of harm.

Gambling was a factor in many cases - about half of the time, the participants said the violence in their relationships was a response to gambling. The participants in the study were recruited from problem gambling services, so they have a high representation (75%) of problem and moderate-risk gamblers. This also means the participants' usual gambling activities (pokies, casino games, and racing) match up with the most problematic gambling activities according to the Ministry of Health.

Any of the counsellors at PGF will tell you that problem gambling is rarely an isolated issue; that is, it's not the only problem people have going on in their lives. Whether it's alcohol, drugs, mental illness, or something else, there are frequently coexisting issues that accompany gambling. This research, first of its kind in New Zealand, shows that "the relationship between family/whanau violence and problem gambling can be the cause or effect of each other" (p.96). Whether the violence or the gambling occurs first, the fact that they are found together so frequently is cause for concern in our society.

For the study titled Measuring the burden of gambling harm in New Zealand, GARC worked with Central Queensland University's Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory. The goal of the project was to place gambling harm within the larger sphere of harms experienced by individuals and communities, to see how burdensome gambling harm truly is. To do this the team interviewed problem gambling treatment professionals and people who had experienced gambling harm, and surveyed people who had been affected by gambling. Their results allowed them to detail the many different forms gambling harm can take.

The results suggest gambling harm may be underestimated. While gambling is still less harmful overall than hazardous drinking and anxiety/depressive disorders, it still causes three times more harm than drug use disorders and over twice the amount of harm to people and communities as osteoarthritis and diabetes. Moreover, non-problem gamblers (i.e. those with moderate or low risk due to their own gambling, or those affected by others' gambling) are harmed four times as much as problem gamblers.​The taxonomy, or a classification of gambling harm that spans several pages, is an interesting read all on its own. It is broken down into several categories of harm -- financial, relationship disruption, emotional, criminal, etc. -- and describes a variety of ways gambling can impact lives and society. The harm is further broken down into general (how people are affected day-to-day while gambling harm is a part of their lives); crisis (significant events or conditions that can seriously disrupt lives); and legacy (ways that harm can continue affecting lives after the gambling is no longer happening). The sheer variety of gambling harms being presented is staggering; the report also presents quotes from participants to drive home the true extent of damage from gambling.

A brave Melbourne woman, Shonica Guy, has taken legal action against Melbourne’s Crown Casino and pokie manufacturer, Aristocrat, alleging the design of the Dolphin Treasure poker machine means players are likely to be misled or deceived about their chances of winning.

Ms Guy started using pokie machines when she was 17 and says they took over her life for the next 14 years, along with losing significant amounts of money.This landmark trial was launched by Maurice Blackburn lawyers, pro-bono, and focuses on Dolphin Treasure’s design features, which are alleged to be unfair.The Maurice Blackburn website states:

Ms Guy is seeking:

declarations that both Dolphin Treasure itself, and the way in which it is made available for play at Crown, breach the Australian Consumer Law, and

injunctions to prevent Aristocrat or Crown:

using any deceptive design features in Dolphin Treasure or similar machines in the future or

participating in unconscionable conduct in relation to Dolphin Treasure or similar machines in the future.​ ​

Why is the Dolphin Treasure machine allegedly misleading or deceptive?It is alleged that the sizes of the five reels on the Dolphin Treasure machine are not equal and the distribution of symbols on the reels is not even (meaning the symbols do not occur the same number of times on each of the five reels). It is also alleged that the return to player information provided to players on the machine’s display screen is misleading.​The case also alleges that Aristocrat and Crown are engaged in unconscionable conduct because they allegedly make Dolphin Treasure available to vulnerable players to play it to their detriment in circumstances that are known to both Aristocrat and Crown but not to the players.

The trial is now over and the verdict is expected to be several months away. We will watch with interest and applaud Shonica’s bravery for taking on the gambling industry.

One of the real highlights of Gambling Harm Awareness Week (GHAW) this year was the ‘pause the pokies’ campaign which saw seven pubs and clubs in Lower Hutt and eight in Whanganui ‘pause the pokie’ machines for one hour in recognition of the national awareness raising week. In Whanganui, local organisation, Nga Tai O Te Awa, have run the initiative for the last two years but last year only three venues took part so it was really encouraging to see eight venues getting behind the campaign this year.

The theme for this year’s GHAW was ‘Whānau Fun - we can beat gambling harm together.’ The week kicked off in Christchurch with a Gamblefree Community Day where, in collaboration with the Salvation Army Oasis, we created an event for families. With face-painting, games and interactive workshops on gambling harm, as well as a great turnout from the community, it was a fun and successful day.

In Auckland our main activity was a collaborative project with Auckland City Mission (ACM). Our focus was on the users of ACM’s services, many of whom struggle or have struggled with gambling addiction. Over the course of several weeks our Auckland team built a relationship with the team at ACM, which culminated in a co-hosted ‘boil up’ for ACM users at the Hobson Street office plus a special screening of the documentary Ka Ching! Pokie Nation and an educational quiz on gambling. You can check out some of the pictures and video from the event here.

In addition to this our Auckland team also set up static displays at libraries around Auckland; Papatoetoe, Otara, Papakura, Takapuna and Devonport. Our staff were on site at some of the libraries throughout the week offering brief interventions and presentations on gambling harm.

In Wellington our team collaborated with Nga Taonga – Sound & Vision, to host two screenings of ‘It’s not a Game’ – a New Zealand made documentary which looks into the lives of New Zealanders affected by harmful gambling.

It was a great week where our team across the country, along with our friends from other organisations, engaged with thousands of people across a wide range of demographics about the harm associated with gambling, hoping to break down some of the stigma, encourage help-seeking behaviour and start some conversations.

History of Gambling Harm Awareness WeekThe major awareness raising week for harmful gambling takes place at the beginning of September every year. But it hasn’t always been a week. It started as Gamblefree Day and the very first one was held on 1 September 2005. It came about when delegates at the CommUnity Action on Gambling Conference 2004 held in Hamilton decided that a national ‘Gamblefree Day’ would raise awareness about problem gambling in New Zealand. The proposal, suggested by Paul Lavulo, of the National Pacific Gambling Project was endorsed by the delegates at the conference and Gamblefree Day became an annual event on 1 September the following year.​Community groups throughout New Zealand were encouraged to take direct action on the day with the aim of developing a co-ordinated national campaign so that the public were made aware of the harm pokies cause in our communities.​Last year Gamblefree Day became Gambling Harm Awareness Week (GHAW) to provide more time for awareness raising events and activities to take place around the country.

PGF Services is committed to health promotion that contributes to safer gambling practices through community education and the development of regulations and standards.